The fate of Southern Illinois basketball postseason has been up in the air over the state’s budget impasse, and the picture got cleared up Wednesday.

Saluki men’s basketball will not participate in a postseason tournament this season, according to a Saluki Athletics press release. 

Coach Barry Hinson said there was not one single factor that led to this conclusion.

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“We carefully considered a host of factors before reaching the decision to end our season,” he said. “Chief among them were the health and welfare of our players, as well as the budgetary implications of hosting games on our campus during spring break.”

MORE: SIUC would eliminate 180 positions, 400 classes and 300 student positions if Illinois budget impasse continues until December

After the team’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament loss to Northern Iowa, Hinson said his team would not pay to play in a postseason tournament “as people are getting ready to lose their jobs.” 

SIU finished the season at 22-10, its best record since 2006-07. The Salukis were likely under consideration for one of the four minor postseason tournaments, which would have been the first since Hinson came to Carbondale.

Some tournaments such as the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) require an entry fee as well as the money needed to host a game.

For example, the CBI requires a minimum ticket guarantee of $35,000 for first-round games. All gate receipts and concessions received at the game would go to the host to cover the cost.

Even if the financial power was available, the manpower may not be. These tournaments are all scheduled to begin at the tail end of the SIU’s spring break next week.

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The SIU athletic department agreed with Hinson’s decision.

“There wasn’t one overriding factor that led to this decision, but the sum of the parts led us to determine it was in our best interest not to play,” SIU Director of Athletics Tommy Bell said.

The decision means that seniors Anthony Beane, Ibby Djimde and Deng Leek have officially played their last game in a Saluki uniform.

Beane finishes as the No. 3 all-team scorer in SIU history (1,917 career points) and tied for the all-time leading scorer (885 points) in SIU Arena history.

This story will be updated.

Sean Carley can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-536-3307.